Biography

Qualifications

Employment

Since December 1975, acarologist at The Natural History Museum, London

Professional Roles

Editorial boards

Systematic and Applied Acarology Society - Executive Committee member

Systematic and Applied Acarology - Co-editor

Systematic and Applied Acarology Special Publications - Co-editor

International Journal of Acarology - Editorial board member

Acarologia – Editorial board member

Research

Interests

Research projects have covered the systematics of a wide range of Acari (mites and ticks), but particularly those found in soil and agroecosystems, and those which live in association with other organisms. Presenting information in a form that is accessible to workers with or without previous knowledge of acarine taxonomy is an important part of this work.

A wide range of mite species occur in agroecosystems, including serious economic pests and beneficial predators. The purpose of the guide is to enable both specialist mite researchers and workers in the field of agriculture and horticulture to identify the species they commonly find and to locate additional taxonomic and biological information about them.

Systematic studies of mites of the superfamily Eupodoidea.

Eupodoids live freely in many terrestrial habitats, eg, grass- and woodland soils, moss, bracket fungi, decomposing wood and the aerial parts of plants. They are frequently collected during biodiversity studies, but are rarely fully identified because of their poor systematic state. Biodiversity studies in hitherto neglected regions, eg, Africa and the Americas, are yielding species that cannot be placed in any genus or family as currently defined. Work has begun to resolve familial and generic classifications.

Building a comprehensive knowledge of the British Acari fauna.

Faunistic and distributional data for British mites are far from complete and mostly insufficient to allow changes to be identified. Confirming new records and establishing whether species found on imported goods already occur in the fauna are usually difficult and time-consuming tasks because of the scattered literature. Also, the numerous nomenclatorial changes that have occurred since many species were first recorded inhibit information retrieval. Checklists and bibliographies of the orders without modern lists are in preparation (with Mrs Jan Beccaloni, Department of Entomology, NHM).

A website that will enable users to identify British mites and ticks, and to find out information about them is under construction. The first part describes collection and study methods for terrestrial forms, and outlines their morphology and life history. It also includes keys to life stages, orders and many of the major divisions within each order.

Taxonomic and faunistic studies of Acari associated with bats of the British Isles.

British and Irish bats are protected under wildlife legislation and the subject of much scientific and public conservation effort. Mites are the most diverse of bat-associated arthropods (including ecto- and endoparasitic species, and scavengers of skin/hair debris), but the fauna of the British Isles is incompletely known. Current work is concentrated on producing an inventory of species and constructing a user-friendly key for their identification.

Grants

2005 - Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant; Mites as high resolution indicators for time of death and place of decomposition (collaborators - Dr H. Braig, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Dr M.A. Perotti, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Dr B. Turner, Department of Forensic Science and Drug Monitoring, King's College London).

Baker, A.S. & Ostojá-Starzewski, J.C. (2002) New distributional records of the mite Parasitus mycophilus (Acari: Mesostigmata), with a redescription of the male and first description of the deutonymph. Systematic & Applied Acarology7: 113-122.

Baker, A.S. (1995) A redescription of Halotydeus destructor (Tucker) (Prostigmata: Penthaleidae), with a survey of ontogenetic setal development in the superfamily Eupodoidea. International Journal of Acarology21(4): 261-282.

Husband, R.W. & Baker, A. (1992) A new species of Podapolipus (Acari: Podapolipidae) ectoparasitic on Alphitobius laevigatus (Tenebrionidae) from Trinidad. International Journal of Acarology18(2): 83-87.

Baker, A.S. (1991) A new species of the mite genus Androlaelaps Berlese (Parasitiformes: Laelapidae) found in association with the spider Macrothele calpeiana (Walckanaer) Orthognatha: Dipluridae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society8(7): 219-223.